Driven by the belief that adventures are best when shared, Mountain Hardwear is launching a unique initiative that allows consumers to share their love of winter with online communities. Demanding brand interaction, fans will join Mountain Hardwear in launching the “Finding Winter” campaign in September 2014.

“Most of the world tries to avoid winter weather. We know our consumers seek it out. We wanted to find a way for our whole community to share in the excitement of winter adventures by sharing gear and stories,” said Chris Harges, Mountain Hardwear’s director of global marketing.

In September 2014, “Finding Winter,” kicks off when hundreds of consumers will be selected through contests, dealer recommendations and social media connections and will be outfitted with a Mountain Hardwear jacket, accessories, nutrition and other goodies. Select fans will receive GoPro cameras to document their adventures. Participants then use the gear, record their adventures and share them online through social media channels and the www.findingwinter.com landing page that aggregates content. After two weeks, fans are encouraged to pass the jacket on to the next user, generating more than 15,000 new experiences, enhanced by Mountain Hardwear technologies.

Mountain Hardwear began piloting the program in winter 2013-2014 with a small test group of fans and media. 

“We can’t believe the response we’ve had so far from just a small group of participants-everything from product feedback to trip recommendations. We can’t wait to launch the program on a grand scale next fall,” said Harges.

Mountain Hardwear, Inc., founded in 1993 and based in Richmond, CA, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Columbia Sportswear Company.